2 March 2009

The Portuguese Government and Nissan signed a Letter of Intent to study the establishment of a lithium-ion battery plant in Portugal. This could make Portugal the second country, after Japan, where Nissan would invest in a full-scale manufacturing facility for its advanced lithium-ion batteries.

The establishment of a plant and a supply base with the cooperation of the Portuguese government would position the country at the core of Nissan’s plans to mass market electric vehicles in Europe and globally by 2012.

In November, Portugal became the first European country to sign a final agreement with the Renault-Nissan Alliance for implementing a zero emission mobility program. (Earlier post.)The plan calls for 1,300 vehicle charging locations to be ready by 2011 and various incentives for electric vehicle buyers, including income tax reductions.

The Renault-Nissan Alliance will bring electric vehicles to Portugal in early 2011, making Portugal one of the first countries to be supplied with electric vehicles from the Alliance.

The Renault-Nissan Alliance has begun zero emission initiatives with Israel, Denmark, Portugal, the Principality of Monaco, the French utility company EDF, the Swiss electric utility company Energie Ouest Suisse (EOS) as well as the State of Tennessee, the State of Oregon and Sonoma County in northern California in the US. In Japan, the Alliance has partnered with the Prefecture of Kanagawa and the City of Yokohama.

Comments

As the sole remaining super power (as of this writing) we are still regarded as a leader by many nations such as Japan; at least to some degree.
After all their technological and production advances, the Japanese realize they are still way behind in outsourcing their jobs.
They intend to rectify that situation immediately.

The weight of batteries for electric vehicles with current energy densities will be at least 50 kgs (for 5 kWhs) to over 100 kgs for larger packs.
Shipping them from Japan to Europe would involve significant cost.